‘Transit Oriented Development’ gains steam in planning circles

Transit Oriented Development is a hot topic in planning circles these days, according to a recent study by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

“Nationwide attention has been focused on TODs as a development concept that can be used to achieve multiple smart growth and sustainable development objectives,” the report on the study says. “TODs have been promoted and built in numerous large metropolitan areas across the country.”

But not here in the Lehigh Valley: “To date, no TODs have been built in the Lehigh Valley and none have been proposed,” the report concludes. The whys and wherefores are examined in the 68-page document approved in September by the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, a board that advises the state Department of Transportation on regional spending priorities.

The report cites the technical definition of TODs, as specified in state law: “Development concentrated around and oriented to transit stations in a manner that promotes transit riding or passenger-rail use. The term does not refer to a single real-estate project, but represents a collection of projects, usually mixed-use [and] at a neighborhood scale,” and located very near to bus or train stations.

One apartment complex next to a rail station doesn’t cut it, according to the report. Multiple developments, generally with a mix of single homes, twins, townhouses and apartments, at a transit station linking directly to a job center or other attraction, is more like it. Many people should live very close to transit stations — ideally, within walking or bicycling distance.

In our region, development adjacent to a train station with service to New York and northern New Jersey, or to Philadelphia, would be ideal, but passenger trains between those venues stopped running in 1963 and 1981 respectively, the report states. Development around bus stations can qualify as TODs, the planners note, but “railroads are more favorably suited for TODs” because of greater distances between stations, which limit the number of stops and thus help decrease travel times.

Soaring cost estimates and logistical problems have helped stifle a host of proposals to restore Valley passenger-rail service virtually since it came to the end of the line. Without train service to employment and entertainment concentrations in the New York or Philadelphia regions, TODs are unlikely to take root in the Valley, the study notes.

“Unfortunately, the prospects for rail in the Lehigh Valley [in the near future] are not good,” the planners conclude. In researching the issue, Transportation Study member Joseph Gurinko visited municipalities where TODs seem to be working well, including the Ballston area of Arlington, Va., where high-rise apartment dwellers can walk to the train station for a ride to work in the Washington metro area, as well as Rahway and other New Jersey cities where similar conditions apply with a New York metro destination.

Most areas of the Lehigh Valley don’t even approach the kind of residential and commercial density that exists in the Arlington or Rahway examples, according to Gurinko. Many longtime Valley residents have found the region’s population and development growth over the past 30 years to be astonishing.

However, much of that growth “has been spreading out; we tend to grow out, rather than up” as in high-rise dwellings and offices, Gurinko said — a pattern unsuitable to TODs. Here, it’s mostly suburban tract houses and office and industrial parks in the suburbs, added Transportation Study member Michael Kaiser.

Gurinko and Kaiser also serve as planning commission administrators. “It looks like the three cities have the greatest potential” for TODs to take hold in the future, though “you’ll have to have some major projects happening to make this kind of development possible,” Kaiser said.

And again, this would be the long-term future, according to the report. “In our view,” the planning commission study concludes, “neither light rail nor heavy rail are likely transit or TOD options in the Lehigh Valley in the foreseeable future.” Instead, New York or Philadelphia area commuters will continue to rely chiefly on the personal automobile or commercial bus service for their lengthy treks to work and back.

A New Jersey study with a Lehigh Valley addendum released last year estimated that the restoration of passenger-rail service between the Valley and Manhattan would cost $964 million for building or refurbishing rail lines and stations, and that operational costs would exceed revenues by $12 million each year, all to achieve an average one-way travel time of 2.6 hours.

According to the TOD report, cars and buses today can make that journey in about two hours. “At this time, no proposals exist for the restoration of [Lehigh Valley] commuter rail service, nor are any other studies underway,” the TOD study concluded.

Current Comments

Ballston, VA is a nice suburb. However--it is served by METRO (a subway system) and not "passenger rail" as folks in the Lehigh Valley imagine it.

It is about 8 miles from Ballston to Union Station, and even with that passenger density, ridership has continued to fall and large fare increases (and subsidies) are not making up the difference. Still, it works well enough because it really isn't that far.

That doesn't compare sensibly to the 94 miles from Allentown to Penn Station. Long haul rail does not offer the flexibility for commuting to justify the cost--and would be far too slow for most riders if there were enough stops to build ridership.

If you want to live 90 miles from your workplace--then you have to be willing to consider more cost effective commuting options.

Posted By: G Cash | Feb 13, 2012 9:17:34 PM

Good! Why should my taxes go up just because people want to move to the Lehigh Valley for cheaper houses - thus - already driving taxes up - and keep their high paying jobs in the city. You want to continue to work there and live here, that's YOUR problem. Don't cry that you want a rail line to make it convenient for you. In fact, we'd rather if you moved back to Jersey or New York. Try getting a job close to your home, just like I did. It's quite nice.

Posted By: Carter | Feb 14, 2012 1:39:18 PM

This is a very limited view of TOD. A TOD strategy can be implemented to transform a city and create more livable communities. They can be designed to meet the needs of residents who live, work and play in a community. In the example mentioned above, this TOD would only meet the needs of people who live in the community but work many miles away in another state.

As defined by Reconnecting America, Transit-oriented development is a type of community development that includes a mixture of housing, office, retail and/or other amenities integrated into a walkable neighborhood and located within a half-mile of quality public transportation. Successful TOD provides people from all walks of life with convenient, affordable and active lifestyles and create places where our children can play and our parents can grow old comfortably.

TOD is not just development near transit. It's development that also increases “location efficiency”
so people can walk, bike and take transit; boosts transit ridership and minimizes the impacts of traffic; provides a rich mix of housing, jobs, shopping and recreational choices; provides value for the public and private sectors, and for both new and existing residents; and creates a sense of community and of place.

Posted By: Holly Marie | Feb 15, 2012 10:48:56 AM

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Morning Call Reporter and Columnist Dan Hartzell is The Road Warrior, defending the drivers of the Lehigh Valley and the roads on which they drive. E-mail questions about transportation in the Lehigh Valley and beyond to hartzell@mcall.com.